Investigators have identified four juveniles from San Luis Obispo's North County believed to be involved in a fire that broke out at Templeton Feed and Grain on the Fourth of July.
Templeton Fire Chief Tom Peterson said surveillance videos played a key role in the investigation.
“Through video surveillance and other means they were able to identify the juveniles, interview [them] and determined that we found the one individual that we were hopefully looking for that threw the firework,” Peterson said.
He added that footage from nearby businesses and inside the warehouse helped confirm the timing of the firework detonation.
“We were able to see that a firework was lobbed up onto the roof and then went to other businesses and gathered different vantage points and a video from the interior of the actual warehouse,” Peterson said. “And that corroborated the timing from another business that showed the firework detonating.”
One firework was recovered from the building’s roof during the investigation.
The incident occurred just weeks after San Luis Obispo County adopted a stricter fireworks ordinance, which imposes fines of up to $1,000 per violation.
Peterson said the fire department is working with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office to determine potential charges. That information is expected to be released in the next two weeks.
